New bottle of powder?

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Vettepilot555

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So I am finding some conflicting info on this, and a good bit of info that might be only "Boiler Plate Super-(lawyer)-Safe". So I am a bit confused. I'll run the question by you guys.

Hypothetical case. I buy a one pound bottle of Supermax 1000 powder, and work up a load I'm happy with in my ZipMax 350. The load ends up being .6 grains under maximum at 54.2 grains. I only bought one pound because: (choose one)
A. It was all I could afford.
B. I wanted to try a different powder.
C. It was all they had.
D. All of the above. ;~)

So 8 months later, the powder runs out, and I buy a new one pounder.

EVERYTHING you see, read, study, are told, and have nightmares about is that powder lots vary, and that you must start over with load development, beginning at the starting load.

Is this really how it works in real life??? Do you guys re-develop loads for each new bottle of powder?? (From different lot numbers.)

Thanks in advance for any and all input!!
Vettepilot
 
My only experience was with Varget for F class rifle ammo. I did not notice a lot difference but only had one 1 lb before deciding it was good for me and buying it by the keg.

As said, pistol (or shotgun) I never bothered. I knew one guy who was particular enough that he bought a case of his preferred powder and when it finally ran out and he bought another case, it was back to the chronograph to see if he need to adjust.
 
Rifles and 1 pounders go quick. Especially big cases like .270, 30-06, or the magnums. I have run into exactly what you described before when I bought IMR4350 for my .270 and I could only get a couple pounds here and there because I couldn’t afford a jug, and didn’t want to pay hazmat, so I just bought what was on the shelf. Since I didn’t want to use a third of my can to start over and develop a load, I did the quickest workup I could trust. 2 of each, at 1 grain increments. That meant 8 shots before I got to where I wanted to be, with the last 2 being what the load I had liked previously was. I ended up working it a tad from there and settled about .2 gr away from my previous load.
 
If I was running firewall loads I would work back up with each different lot. With very few exceptions, though, my loads are well under the limit, and the worst possible outcome would be an elevation change.
 
If my load was .6 under max, I think I'd load a few and shoot them to verify. Canister powders are supposedly blended for consistency. That effort might not always be perfect but I wouldn't expect (and I personally never have seen) a drastic variation between lots.
 
The big question is do you have a cronograph? If you do it's just about loading a short ladder and testing for speed. 5 shots or so and your done, assuming you had a good load and no other components have changed
 
I spend 24 rounds “redoing my load workup” when I change powder lots within the same barrel. I could do it with 8 rounds, but I repeat in triplicate. Don’t make load development into something it isn’t.

When you’re shooting big magnums, only buy one pounders if you are truly developing a load from scratch and trying multiple powders. Then buy 8lb jugs, or multiple jugs of that powder at a time from then out. If you can’t afford more than one pound at a time, then honestly, shooting high high volumes with big case magnums isn’t within your budget.
 
Cannibul said:
If shooting precision rifle and the new bottle of powder has a different lot number I'd most likely work up a new load.
Click to expand...
What he said ... with the addition that for hand-/re-loaded regular, nothing-special rifle rounds and a new Lot of propellant I might produce & check a few rounds first before making a bunch of them.

For pistols I just carry on. :)

O'course, for a propellant type that has proven to be a winner for one (or more) of my cartridge loads (especially with rifle powder), next time I would purchase canisters containing more than one pound. ;)

Enjoy!
 
What I have found in "real life" for me is that the process of "load development" is very inexact and way overrated and that powder lots do not vary except by density which is compensated for by weighting charges. So the problem does not really bother me much. Just glad to get a can of powder when I need it and if I can not I shoot something else.
 
Laphroaig said:
If my load was .6 under max, I think I'd load a few and shoot them to verify.
Click to expand...

I load very few cartridges near or at maximum, if I did, particularly with a cartridge like the 350 ZipMax, that takes 54+ grains of powder, probably pushing a pretty heavy bullet... I would reduce about 5% (2.5grn +/-) and do a short rework. Trust but verify.
 
With my rifle loads I back off 1 gr or more and work back up, confirming data against my crony. Some lots will run slower, other faster but normally not by more than a few tents has been my experience. For pistol loads if I'm pushing them near max I back off 0.1-0.2gr then work back up. Some powders are known to vary more than others. If I'm mid range or lower I may just load them and go. For BE loads I run them over the crony to see if they need to be tweaked.
 
None of my rifle or pistol loads are at max, so I just load the new load and check it with the chrono. If all I can get are 1 pounders I usually get at least 4, and most have the same lot number. After the last powder shortage, all I bought were 8 pounders, just because. I’ve been really lucky with the powders because even the new kegs had no significant changes in velocity. Good luck!
 
I've seen bigger changes from changing brass than powder lots.
Powder gets an abbreviated ladder test that starts 1 grain under what my load was and goes up to half a grain over my previously determined max. I very seldom shoot my entire ladder.
 
Most if not all loading manuals will stress that, some include primer lots. In my experience few do.
I posed this question to my shooting buddy of 30 odd years just last week. A precision shooter by most definitions. Suppose to but I don’t was the answer.
Myself, I’m simply not good enough with pistol or rifle to bother. Disclaimer: Neither of us load to max on any cartridge. Neither of us hunt or shoot competition.
 
AJC1 said:
The big question is do you have a cronograph? If you do it's just about loading a short ladder and testing for speed. 5 shots or so and your done, assuming you had a good load and no other components have changed
Click to expand...
Yep a chronograph is a very good tool for this, a node can move slightly when changing any component, most competitors once they find what works buy in bulk to avoid chasing a tune.
 
Jim Watson said:
If I had only been able to get two pounds of different lots, I think I would have blended them.
Click to expand...

I'm doing this with 8lb containers of different lots (Varget and H4895 specifically because I use those the most)

I dump them into a plastic tote and mix them up then put them back into the containers. The only risk I can see is if there's a recall on one of the mixed lots as you'd be faced with the prospect of throwing it all away.
 
I have read that powder manufacturers keep each lot of powder within 4% of the standard for a particular powder. But normal reloading technique is whenever and component is changed, reduce loads and rework. I haven't reloaded any handloads to near max since I recovered from my case of "Magnumitis", so I'll often just keep the same loads and run the new batch over the chrony. Since my reloading is 98% handgun ammo, very little if any difference is seen from lot to lot...
 
With brand name commercial powders, I work up my initial load, and never look back, but I never load at max either.
With military surplus powders, I rework the loads with each new lot...
 
Drop a few grains and loading one cartridge and work up a few grains or so until the previous load is reached. Named above Varget had some severe changes in burn rate about 12-15 years ago. Many shooters complained at the time. H-1000 had significant difference in burn rate a few years ago. Buddy of mine sheared off a bolt-lug! Nothing is perfect. Better be safe than sorry.
 
I also will drop a few grains/steps and ladder up to the load I had. Note that I use the first (lowest) node as it always seems more forgiving and giving consistent results. At max I would drop back at least 5% and work back up for safety.
 
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